Jarden Brief: Gold slips to two-week low

Gold trended downwards overnight. Photo / Getty Images

Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden

New Zealand

The NZX 50 broke a seven-day winning streak, falling by 1.0 per cent yesterday. 
All sectors declined, with healthcare (-2.4 per cent) and consumer non-cyclicals (-1.5 per cent) leading the index downwards.

The healthcare sector was weighed down by Ryman Healthcare, dropping by 3.2 per cent. Ryman Healthcare announced the appointment of Richard Umbers as CEO on Tuesday, an executive with extensive retail experience but a limited background in the retirement sector.

Listed property company Argosy Property also fell 3.2 per cent - making both Argosy Property and Ryman Healthcare the worst performing stocks of the day.

Synlait Milk announced the proposed restructure, which would reduce its employee count by 15 per cent. The company said this would provide an annual saving of $10 to $12 million. An update on this will be provided at Synlait's upcoming results release on September 27, after staff and union consultation. Synlait's share price declined by 0.3 per cent yesterday.

Meanwhile, Synlait's minority interest owner, a2 Milk, fell 3.0 per cent. A2 Milk has continued to struggle this year with uncertainty in both supply chain and demand in China, its top market. In addition, the planned removal of the company from the S&P ASX 50 index may have resulted in some investors selling the stock to rebalance their portfolios against the index.

Companies exposed to import freight costs seemed to be relatively stable, despite news that a shipping company has begun imposing a 'Christmas surcharge' on freight to New Zealand at US$300 per container. The action may potentially signal more freight cost inflation to come, with shipping company, ANL Singapore, imposing the fee due to 'ongoing strong demand for shipping line services from China to Australia and New Zealand, amongst other factors.

In positive moves, donations management company Pushpay, rose again, up 1.1 per cent. Tourism Holdings and Auckland International Airport each rose 0.8 per cent, potentially fuelled by the continued decline in daily community cases.

International
US

US equities are trading weaker at the time of writing, as the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones Industrial Average are all lower by 0.2, 0.3 and 0.6 per cent, respectively.
Outperforming sectors include utilities and consumer non-cyclicals, which made gains of 1.8 and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

Healthcare sector gains were buoyed by an impressive performance from healthcare company, Perrigo Company Plc, which jumped 9.3 per cent at the time of writing. Perrigo announced this morning a deal to acquire HRA Pharma for US$2.1 billion. HRA operates in the same 'self care' product industry as Perrigo.

Furthermore, payment and digital commerce solutions company, Global Payments Inc, traded up 6.1 per cent at the time of writing after a raft of positive news flow. Firstly, news was released of partnerships with both Virgin Money and Mercedes Benz stadium on Wednesday, followed by the $US500m purchase of automation solutions provider MineralTree, this morning.

In contrast, downward pressure on indices was drawn from sector losses of materials (-1.0 per cent) and energy (-0.9 per cent).

PulteGroup Inc led the single stock losers as it slumped to a 5.0 per cent loss after releasing a quarterly update to investors. The homebuilder's gross margins were said to come in well below expectations. Joining PulteGroup, was healthcare facility owner Universal Health Services, which fell 4.7 per cent.

Asia

Asian indices were mixed overnight. Highlights include the Hang Seng lower by 0.1, the Shanghai Composite remaining roughly unchanged and the Nikkei making a gain of 0.9 per cent at the day's close.

Commodities

In commodities this morning, Gold fell to a two-week low, to trade at US$1,794.70 per ounce, down 0.2 per cent. WTI crude oil bounced back 1.3 per cent, now priced at US$69.30 per barrel, as supply concerns began to ease in the aftermath of hurricane Ida. Yields have fallen at the time of writing, with the 10-year now priced at 1.33 per cent.

Crypto markets were quiet overnight with Bitcoin slipping 1.2 per cent, to trade at US$46,347.30 in the aftermath of El-Salvador announcing its plans to make the crypto currency legal tender. Ethereum nudged ahead 2.1 per cent to US$3,515.50.

Australia

The ASX 200 decreased by 0.2 per cent on Wednesday.

Most sectors ended the day in the red, with the A-REIT and consumer staples sectors booking the biggest losses, down 1.3 and 1.2 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, financials and industrials improved by 0.6 and 0.3 per cent, respectively.

The best performer on the ASX 200 was Washington H Soul Pattinson, rising 5.6 per cent. The investment holding company gave a positive market update on Monday, stating an expected profit for the financial year 2021 in the range of A$316 million to A$336 million, compared to its A$170 million profit in 2020. The release of the company's preliminary final report is scheduled for 23 September 2021.

Next in line was Macquarie Group, increasing by 4.7 per cent. The financial group kicked off its investor presentation yesterday, which will be held virtually until the end of this week. The global financial group noted that its first half profit in 2022 would be 'slightly down' on what it achieved in the second half of 2021.

Software services company, Technology One, continued its upwards trend, improving by a further 4.7 per cent.

Gold producers and explorers were the biggest decliners on Wednesday, after a deterioration in gold prices. Northern Star Resources declined by 5.3 per cent and Westgold Resources was down 4.9 per cent.

Automotive retail group, Eagers Automotive, dropped 5.9 per cent, reversing all the gains made over the last week.

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Disclaimer: This Morning Brief has been prepared in good faith and reflects opinions and views at the time of publication, using external sources, systems and other data and information we believe to be accurate, complete and reliable at the time of preparation. We make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, correctness and completeness of that information, and will not be liable or responsible for any error or omission. This Morning Brief is not to be relied upon as a basis for making any investment decision. Please seek specific investment advice before making any investment decision. Jarden Securities Limited is an NZX Firm, a broker disclosure statement is available free of charge at www.jarden.co.nz. Jarden is not a registered bank in New Zealand. Full disclaimer available at: https://www.jarden.co.nz/limitations-and-disclaimera>